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Don’t Worry – Be Happy!

In the late 80’s Bobby McFerrin came out with a catchy little tune with a great message that we couldn’t help but join in and sing a long to a great little reminder: “Don’t Worry Be Happy!

Don’t Worry Be Happy

Here’s a little song I wrote. You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy.

In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry you make it double. Don’t worry, be happy. Don’t worry, be happy now

Chorus:

Don’t worry! (Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) Be happy
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) don’t worry, be happy.
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) don’t worry
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) be happy.
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) don’t worry, be happy…

We find this same message in the Scriptures and it is certainly a lesson worth learning. It is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible, because with God’s help, all things are possible. We just have to learn to get out of the way and allow His power and wisdom to flow to and through our lives.

“6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7

In just two verses we find an incredible instructions with an amazing promise for those who are disciplined enough to put these Scriptures into practice.

BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING!

The first thing the Scriptures teach us, are to “Be anxious for nothing!” In other words: Don’t worry about anything. There is no need for us to get worked up about what is happening or not happening in life. We are not supposed to let anything, no matter it’s size or shape to wreck us with worry.

Anxiousness is worry generated by any thoughts, images, emotions, and/or actions of a negative nature that we allow to repeat themselves in uncontrollable ways that cause us to perform a continual risk analysis in order that we might avoid, solve or get rid of anticipated potential (real or unreal) threats and any consequences we think they might bring with them into our life and living.

So what are we supposed to be anxious about? NOTHING!

PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING!

The Second thing the Scriptures teach us: Is that in the place of being anxious about anything we should “In everything talk to God with an attitude of gratitude!” Just taking the time to have conversation with our Creator can and will make a difference. It is important to remember that a conversation is made up of talking and listening, so please make sure that you tell God whatever you have in your heart and on your mind, but then make sure that you also take the time to listen to whatever it is that He has to say to you, because often in what He says to you, you will find the power and wisdom to overcome and experience the freedom of victory and all the blessings that come with it.

PEACE IS YOUR REWARD!

The third thing the Scriptures teach us is that we will be rewarded with a PEACE that cannot be explained or understood. This peace does not mean that we will be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means that we can be in the midst of these things and still be calm in our heart knowing that God has got us…

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What We Feed Grows!

We have been given an amazing gift – the gift of choice. Each one of us get to choose what will be the focus of our life and living. We have the power of choice and make no mistake about it, the choices we make have the power to determine the life we will live.

I love stories and one of my favorite stories is: The Story Of The Two Wolves!

The story goes that there was an old Cherokee Indian chief, who was was teaching his grandson about life. The old Chief told his young Grandson: “A fight is going on inside me, a fight between two wolves – a dark wolf and a light wolf.”

The Dark one is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The Light Wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The old Chief told his young Grandson: “The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.”

The young Grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee Chief smiled and simply said, “The one you feed”.

This is true in our lives as well. The attitude, emotion or feeling that we feed will grow and take up leadership in our life and help determine it’s direction. Feed the positive and the positive will grow. Feed the negative and the negative will grow. The choice is yours and you do have the power. The real question is: Will you use it wisely?

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:4-7

Another way to think about it is like growing a muscle. My Grandmother used to say: “If you don’t use it, you will lose it!” If we don’t exercise our muscles, they will atrophy and die, but if we use them, they will grow and become stronger. To grow a muscle, we have to exercise it!

To overcome anxiousness and worry, we have to exercise our faith muscle by trusting that God loves us and has an amazing plan for our life. We have to believe that God uses even the bad for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes.

Make sure that you are feeding the right wolf and growing the right attitudes, actions, thoughts and responses in your life. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your everyday living and the blessings that flow to you and through you!

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Gratitude Changed My Life!

Have you ever noticed how we often look at others and envy them because they seem to have it all together? As I think back on my life, I can remember observing certain individuals and thinking: “Man, they’ve got it made!”, but as I lived my life and grew closer to some of these folks, I realized that way too often ”looks” can be very deceiving. I have discovered in my own living and learning that most all of us that are living on this great big spinning ball of blue and green have challenges, frustrations and struggles. I have also discovered that everyone of us have a choice about how we will respond to the things that happen to us, in us and through us.

Often times, when people see me, they think that guy sure is lucky, but they have no idea the roller coaster ride that life has taken this ole boy on. I don’t think I am lucky, but I know I am blessed. Most people look at my life today and think: “This dude is one lucky dog!”, but they don’t know that there was a time that I pretty much lost everything and had to start over from scratch. A lot of folks see my relationship with a beautiful wife of almost thirty years and think: “He certainly out punted his coverage!” And they are right, but most do not realize how many times we wanted to throw up our hands and give up on each other. Looking at the life I live, a lot of people might be tempted to get jealous or envious, thinking that I have it all together, but the truth is: Everyday is a battle, learning experience and often a struggle.

I say all of that to say this: I am not better than anyone else. I am not smarter than anyone else, I am not more blessed than anyone else. If anything, I am just learning how to get out of my own way. I am learning how to let God be God and His will become the guiding force and purpose of my life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:4-7

One day as I was thinking about how my life got headed in this right direction, it hit me that it was small, consistent changes in my attitude and thinking. As I spent time with God and thought about all that I had been through and was still standing, then I could not help but to be grateful. As I looked back on all the things in my life that should have killed me, but instead made me stronger, I could not help, but to be grateful. The more grateful I became, the more I focused on the reason for my gratitude and the reason was and is God. He loves me and has a plan for my life. He does not get rid of the bad, but He does use it every time to take me some where that I could never take myself, God is growing me at whatever pace I choose and am comfortable with and that makes me very grateful for it all.

Gratitude Changed My Life! Gratitude is a spiritual practice of seeing and celebrating the good in the world around you, regardless of how bad, challenging or tough things may be. One day I realized that worry was doing me no good and decided to replace it with faith in God and His promised plan for blessing. This simple change made me grateful and started me down a path of learning and growth that has changed my life for the better in every way you could ever dream or imagine…

If there is one discipline that I could recommend that would help to get your life headed in the direction it was created for, then it would be to start practicing being grateful. When you want to get good at something, you have to practice, so here are a few ideas to help you get started:

1.) Start A Gratitude List! Take some time to start writing down and thinking about all the things that you are grateful for. Big, small and in between. Actually think about how you feel and why???

2.) Write Down Three Things You Are Grateful For Everyday In Your Journal! In my personal journal, the very first thing I write down at the top of the page is today’s date. I then write out my Scripture verse or verses for the day and then right under that Scripture, I write out 1, 2 and 3. “Thank You for _____________!

3.) Remember This: Perspective Changes Everything – Good Or Bad = The Choice Is Yours??? You are the only person that can change your perspective! The world can mess it up, but you’ve got the power to fix it and making and taking the time to make sure that it is right will change your life.

God loves you and God made you, because He wants to bless you, because you really are something special…